Welcome to Blueprint
We're a program by Hack Club open to all teenagers 13-18 where you learn and build cool hardware projects and get funding to make them real!
Here's the quick rundown
- Design a starter project or your own custom project.
- While you're working, log your progress on a journal on Blueprint.
- Apply for a grant up to $400 to buy the parts you need
- Build your project and journal your build time
- Earn tickets based on your build time
- Redeem tickets for tools and prizes in the tool bag!
Not all projects need a grant. You can earn extra tickets for the time spent if you do not request a grant.
Here's a more detailed look at how it all works:
What can I build?
Anything hardware-related!
If this is your first time, you should check out the starter projects we've created to help you learn the skills.
If you know what you want to build, make a custom project! From 3D printing to full robots with PCBs, you can create new designs or build off of existing creations. Work in groups if you want (but only one person should submit). We really want to see what you can cook up!
Make sure you have a project created on Blueprint before you start building so you can log your progress in the built-in journal. See the submission guidelines for more details on what we expect from your project.
If you need inspiration, check out what other folks are building on our explore page!
How much money can I get?
You can apply up to $400 per project. The amount you can get depends on the complexity of your project and how much effort you put into it. If you're building off of an existing creation, we only count the parts you added and modified.
You want to keep your projects original and your journal highly detailed. Don't be afraid to write everything down. It's good practice for engineering, and you'll get to share what you learned with the community!
To help you gauge how much funding you can get, we've created a tier system:
The hour amounts are not hard requirements, they are just estimates of time needed for the average hacker to achieve the quality required.
A tier's maximum cost is not a goal, you want to reduce cost as much as possible!
What are tickets? How do I earn them?
Tickets reward you for the effort spent on building the project.
If you requested a grant, you get 8 to 10 tickets per hour of hands-on work after you get your grant, depending on the tier. This could be assembling, fixing CAD, etc.
If you didn't request a grant, you get 8 to 10 tickets per hour of all the hands-on time you spent on your project, depending on the tier!
Your building time must be accurately logged in your journal. And we may adjust your ticket amount based on the quality of your final build.
You can spend tickets in the tool bag to get tools and parts for your next project. The more tickets you have, the better stuff you can get.
How do I get started?
We've made it super easy to get started, it takes less than 5 minutes to start journaling.
- If you haven't already, create an account on Blueprint!
- Follow the tasks listed on your home page to set up your account and get started!
- If you're new to hardware, check out our starter projects to learn the basics.
- Check the faq if you have any questions.
- Ask for help in #blueprint-support on the Hack Club Slack or email [email protected] if you have more questions!
We're excited to see what you build!